Roasting
garlic scents the air. Brushed with olive oil, the cloves rise gently out of their bulbs
as they bake in the oven. Butter for escargot simmers on the stove as Chef Philippe Guiet
chops tomatoes (horizontally, never vertically for this preparation, he stresses), then splits
frogs’ legs and prepares a white wine sauce in the demonstration kitchen of Le
Cordon Bleu Paris Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute. The capital’s newly expanded
cooking school has brought the taste of Paris to Canada.

When it opened its doors in 1988, the institute was the first outside Europe to offer training
in the world-renowned French culinary techniques of Le Cordon Bleu Paris. It later
expanded to incorporate the first Le Cordon Bleu Paris restaurant in North America,
which opened in April 2001. Despite its daunting reputation, the school caters not only to
the Julia Childs of the world (she trained at the original school in Paris), but also to
the regular Joe, who is tired of TV dinners and wants to add some gourmet flair to his cooking.
Anyone with culinary curiosity can sign up for a demonstration, a specialty class, or share
in the students’ regular classes for up to a month.

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Even among the full-time students, not all intend to pursue cooking as a full-time career.
Classes are made up of men and women, mostly 18 to 30 years old, who are predominantly North
American. Some are straight out of high school; others have university degrees or have left
their jobs to seek a career change or simply the pleasure of learning.

Lea MacKenzie is one of these aspiring chefs. In her mid-20s, the New Brunswicker dreams
of working her way up the ranks of the "kitchen brigade." Although she has just
started in the basic cuisine class, she already works as a part-time apprentice at a nearby
bistro.

Sarah Brubacher, another student in the basic class, is an MBA graduate from California
who works for a consulting firm. Currently on a sabbatical, she decided to use the time to
train in the basic techniques of Le Cordon Bleu for her own enjoyment. "I knew
how to cook when I came," she says, "or I thought I did. The first thing you learn
here is that you start at the beginning."

And they learn quickly. In the demonstration class, students scramble to jot down notes
as Guiet’s hands move deftly from task to task and he explains techniques and throws
out questions — not satisfied until he hears the exact answer. They, in turn, pepper
him with questions of their own.

Guiet’s approach is popular, despite its occasional harshness. "Throw it out
and start again! It’s garbage," he tells Greg Villalon, an intermediate cuisine
student who is assisting him in preparing puff pastry. Brubacher, from her vantage-point
as a student who doesn’t have the pressure of preparing for a career in cooking, says
this is typical of the real-world kitchen, and students are glad for the strict training. "Sloppiness
is not tolerated in the types of restaurants they want to work in," she says.

"Chef," as the students call Guiet, begins to prepare the escargots. "The
snails are nicely waiting for us over here," he says, coaxing a laugh from the class.
As the instruction ends, a sea of white hats surges forward en masse, eager to taste the
dishes they will be required to prepare later that day in the school’s massive test
kitchens.

Learning by doing is paramount for Guiet and nine other teaching chefs who try to instill
in students skills that will prepare them for entry into the better kitchens in North America
and abroad.

The school runs year-round, and a new session begins each quarter. Each skill level — basic,
intermediate and superior — in either pastry or cuisine, takes 10 weeks to complete,
and certificates are awarded at each step. One or two certificates are sufficient for some
jobs, but for those who wish to someday rise to the position of executive chef, a diploma
is required which involves all three levels of training, at a hefty tuition — $18,615
for nine months of cuisine training, or $17,115 for pastry.

Once complete however, the employment prospects are high. "I’ve been here eight
years," Guiet says, "and no student, if they were serious about the industry, has
come back to say he couldn’t find a job."